Whenever business people get together, a prime topic of conversation is how to sell to school districts. Many suppliers approach government selling as if it were a world all its own - forbidding and mysterious. This is not true, and success in this field requires the same quality of commitment as any other. If you want your company to sell to "school district" you must first decide just how much of your company's resources you are willing to give to that task. Your starting step might be market research. Later, if you see enough profit potential and your company's ability to go after it, you may want to assign considerably more resources.

A common fallacy is "the government market." It is not "the market," but rather thousands of markets, including federal agencies, state, cities, counties, towns, boards, commissions, authorities, schools, and institutions of higher learning, and so on. There are basic commonalties, but every purchasing authority has some unique characteristics. Once a company is willing to accept that there are thousands of markets, the next step is to examine some common basic beliefs about government. A few are:

When you examine the commonly held beliefs, you need to be willing to discover the truth and give up the myths.

What is the truth about red tape in government? An objective examination reveals that "red tape" is a derogatory name for a series of processes, laws and regulations - which must be followed to get things done legally. The processes are designed to protect the taxpayer - actually for the public good. These processes normally are not complicated, but may be lengthy. They do entail more than a handshake. A company interested in the government market must be willing to accept that these processes exist and be willing to play by the rules.

Is tax money misspent and are government employees concerned? The truth is that government employees as a whole, are probably more concerned about how money is spent than the average taxpayer. While the demand for services has not changed significantly over the past decade, unfortunately resources have - the budget and number of employees. Governments are today doing more with less, thanks in a large part by streamlining operations and government employees figuring out how to make the system work more efficiently.

Are bids rigged? If you closely examine the way a public purchasing agent spends a great deal of his/her time, you'll discover that a good portion is devoted to identifying new sources of supply, administering outreach programs to encourage companies' interest in doing business with the government, and notifying them of opportunities. These activities as well as adhering to the Procurement Code and bid rigging are hardly compatible.

At one time governments' reputation for slow pay may have been valid. However, today efforts to insure prompt payments are being given top priority.

Back to Purchasing | See Current Bid List